I always curse people for not taking the chance to go and see a band when there is a concert around the corner. Can it really be that, no one is even interested in discovering new bands anymore? I was really surprised when I caught myself thinking the same this time. Not that many bands on the bill that night were appealing to me, by just reading the names. Have I become like the ones I curse? Or is it just too much going on so there's really no time left for discovering new music? I set my mind to blank again and started checking out bands that I don't know.

And man, was I in for a surprise! BILLION DOLLAR BABIES wasn't at all a part of the boring new wave of Swedish Sleaze I thought they would be. Instead they played late 80's arena Metal. Very melodic and catchy, in the style of BON JOVI, WHITE LION and other 80's hair-bands. Everything is in place. Nicely organized vocal lines, a well choreographed stage show without being too much and one thing that made them stand out from many other bands, a great singer! This was a really good start fOR the day and I can't help but just hang on in the groove. It was impossible to stand still. BILLION DOLLAR BABIES served a true delight and it were just awesome to watch.

PANZER PRINCESS on the other hand, were declared as a part of the New Wave Of Swedish Sleaze in Metro-introduction of the bands playing at the festival. They sure looked right for that. But my idea is that sleaze shall be mean, filthy and loaded with attitude. PANZER PRINCESS were none of the above. Looks is just not enough for me because you need also music to back it up.

Since MARY FAY has nothing what so ever to do with Metal I'm not going to review that!

The new tacks posted on PREY's MySpace-page sounded promising. It was darker and heavier than the earlier stuff and that I like. Unfortunately, that night the sound guy lost the good sound BILLION DOLLAR BABIES had and didn't manage to get it right for PREY at all; so it was not easy to set a fair judgment here. It was hard to make out anything and the vocals got drowned in the guitar. Sometimes everything was coming to life just to die again seconds later. Visually it was fun to watch PREY, it feels like the real thing and with a decent sound this would have been great. The projector screen set the mood even more, switching between the PREY-logo and various pictures. An easy trick more bands should try! If you're into melodic metal you should absolutely check out PREY's new album Knights Of The Revolution.

MIMIKRY, just as MARY FAY don't have anything to do with metal either but they were so good that I feel I need to write about them anyway. It's not normally a style of music that appeals to me. Ok, I did listen to a lot of Swedish punk but that were years and years ago. MIMIKRY are as good as the classic Swedish Punkbands like ASTA KASK, STREBERS and IMPERIET and can absolutely be classified in the same genre. It's basically fast rock with some pop-influences, great melodies and a hell lot of attitude. Crazy enough the sound was great by now, for a band that probably least cared about that and I started to wonder if the quality of the sound depends more on the band than the sound guy. This song is dedicated to Bergman, just because he's been pestering us to do it, singer Hjalle Ostman declared. This was Missanpassad Bergman (Maladjusted Bergman). MIMIKRY were as angry punk needs to be without feeling pathetic. I mean, you are not as angry at 30+ as when you're 20. They have witty lyrics, great energy and it was a lot of fun to watch. And you sure as hell can't blame them of being lazy on stage. It was almost impossible to catch Hjalle with the camera. He was not still long enough for the camera to focus. Watching MIMIKRY gave a massive doze of energy.

But the biggest surprise this night was SKYRIDE. If there was a movement called New Wave Of Swedish Sleaze it should absolutely also be something called New Era Of Swedish Hardrock, too. SKYRIDE are on the same line as BILLION DOLLAR BABIES. 80's Arena Rock, Hair-Metal with all the attributes required to pull it off. They had great energy from start to finish and with the bunch of catchy songs they've scraped together I'm not at all surprised if this band will start appear a little here and there in the near future. The crowd's response in Run Run Baby showed that they had a great following, at least in their hometown. With the right promotion they will have the same response everywhere (if they haven't already I don't know, this was the first time I see them). Compared to BILLION DOLLAR BABIES, SKYRIDE had more memorable songs. There is this feeling I get when I see something very satisfying, something that's really good. SKYRIDE made me feel so good and I couldn't do anything but watch and enjoy this gig with a huge smile on my face.

Unfortunately, that smile was wiped of my face way too fast. I don't get it, I had MYSTIC PROPHECY's Satanic Curses as No 7 on last year's best album list. I didn't even expect that myself, it was an album that came from nowhere and I couldn't stop listening to it. I had a lot of expectations on them that evening, of course but I can't even remember when I was last that much disappointed with a band. The singer couldn't pull off the nice melodies live, sometimes it did sound ok, but most of the time it was a complete different melody. Sure, it was absolutely ok to have studio versions and live versions of songs. But if that was the case I absolutely prefer the studio since that live-versions weren't anything special at all. The rest was not much either, everything felt pretty lazy and uninspired. A band like MYSTIC PROPHECY should have it easy to shine here, most of the bands on earlier have little or none what so ever experience of touring or perhaps even play at decent stages. Maybe that was the problem, they counted out the competition... But I have to send kudos to guitarist Markus Pohl, it was absolutely Rock 'n' Roll to do a gig with a broken arm!!!

That SABATON would rock the house was no surprise. Say what you will about SABATON but no one in their right mind can say they are a bad live act.

A few minutes after midnight the intro kicked off and the screams were just deafening. The pyro explosions a few seconds later scared the hell out of me. It doesn't matter how prepared I am when the bang comes, I still jump. And then the rain of sparkles all over me and the camera... But security said it was safe a meter away and I guess they could be trusted.

This night was quite special as it was recorded for a coming DVD and SABATON didn't cut back on the expenses. They had a huge stage set with a big podium for the drums to the right, an equal podium for the keyboard to the left and a huge ramp in the middle. Daniel Myhr looked like he was driving the first tank on the left flank in the Panzer Battalion at his spot high up on the podium.
As always, SABATON served a lot of energy and good songs. This night it wasn't a question of what was to be played or not rather how the hell will they find energy to do all on the setlist. After an almost 2 hour set I've gotten pretty much everything I wanted at least. I was really glad to have Wolfpack back in the set. The new songs worked fine live too and the keyboards were a little bit toned down live compared to the record, to me that was all beneficial. Though I wonder a little how the rest of the world will take on the DVD since everything said between the songs was in Swedish. Of course, it would have felt pretty ridiculous if Joakim had been talking English here, in his hometown.

I have no doubts that this will be a great DVD. It all looked very mighty and huge, it will look absolutely awesome on film. The songs were performed flawlessly by all as usual. That's cool with SABATON, you can always count on good quality musically, there's no use to listen after misses and mistakes. They don't come!

I really can't find anything to complain about. I read the setlist before the gig started and it was a huge list of songs. But I actually felt a little surprised in the end that it was over already. And that feeling with a two hour setlist, it must have been really good. If you ask the other +1000 people present I guess you'll get the same answer.

SABATON setlist:
01. Intro - Ghost Division
02. The Art Of War
03. Into The Fire
04. Nuclear Attack
05. Rise Of Evil
06. 40:1
07. Panzerkampf
08. Wolfpack
09. Panzerbattallion
10. The Price Of A Mile
11. In The Name Of God
12. Union
13. Light In The Black
14. Primo Victoria
15. Cliffs Of Gallipoli
17. Attero Dominatos
18. Metal Machine